Fire and Ice
by ohlookitstamara
Summary: "Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire..." -Robert Frost
1. Book I: Episode I

_**Fire and Ice:**_

_Some say the world will end in fire,_

_Some say in ice._

_From what I've tasted of desire_

_I hold with those who favor fire._

_But if I had to perish twice,_

_I think I know enough of hate_

_To say that for destruction ice_

_Is also great_

_And would suffice._

(Robert Frost)

* * *

Book I: Water

Episode I: The Boy in the Iceberg

Kailyn (Kye-lin) sat on the ice wall of her small village, worrying. The sun was getting rather low in the sky, and Sokka and Katara had yet to return from their fishing trip.

"Kailyn? What are you still doing up there? You've missed your supper," came a voice from behind her. Kailyn sighed as she stood and brushed the snow from her clothes.

"I'm not hungry," Kailyn said as she slid down the icy wall with ease (for which she had her waterbending to thank). "Gran-Gran, Sokka and Katara were supposed to be back an hour ago. Something must've happened to them," she said.

"Kailyn, dear, you worry too much. You're just like your father in that sense. I remember when Hadoka was a boy, and he would always…"

"Gran-Gran!" Kailyn interrupted. "Someone needs to be out there looking for them!" Kanna smiled at her eldest grandchild in a slightly sad way. After their mother had died, Kailyn had basically lost her childhood. She was only sixteen, and she had already taken on most of her mother's responsibilities. Luckily, Katara was always there to help Kailyn when she needed it. If there was one thing that Kailyn cared most about, it would be her younger siblings.

"Kai, your brother and sister are very smart. You forget that Sokka is only one year younger than you," Kanna said.

"Yeah, but not mentally," Kailyn complained. Why did Gran-Gran always have to be so calm about everything? Sokka and Katara could've been hurt! Did she not understand that?

"They'll be fine, dear. You'll see," Kanna said. She gave Kailyn a kiss on the cheek before turning and walking to her tent. Kailyn sighed and glided back up the icy wall to await Sokka and Katara's return, if they returned at all.

Sometime after it'd grown dark, Kailyn saw a figure in the distance. It was big, and it was making its way towards the village. Kailyn stood, unsure of what to do. Then, she realized that it was some kind of animal. In spite of herself, Kailyn looked towards the tent where her spear lay inside. If Kailyn could manage to kill a beast _that_ big, who knew how long it'd keep the village fed for! Suddenly, she shot down the thought if killing the animal immediately when she saw the huge saddle upon its back. Squinting her eyes against the dark, she could make out three figures. As the beast came closer, Kailyn could recognize the blue parkas.

Kailyn quickly hopped over the wall and ran towards the sea where the beast was climbing out of the water. She watched as a figure slid down the side of the fluffy, white monster.

"Sokka!" Kailyn yelled as she ran to hug her brother. "I was so worried and…where's Katara?"

"Oh, she's still up on that…thing," he said. "I think she's asleep." Suddenly, Kailyn stepped away from Sokka.

"Why are you sticky?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, that's giant bison snot," he replied. Kailyn pulled a face of disgust as she wiped her hands and arms on her parka.

"Well, where'd it come from?" Kailyn asked, examining the large bison.

"Funny story, really," Sokka said. "We found a kid," he told Kailyn nonchalantly.

"A what?" Kailyn asked.

"Kailyn?" came Katara's tired voice from atop the bison.

"Katara!" Kailyn said. "Get down here! Now, both of you get inside the village before you freeze to death. I think there's still some soup left over; I can heat it up…"

"We can't leave Aang out here," Katara said, sliding down the side of the bison.

"Who?"

"The kid we found," Sokka said. "Did I mention he's an airbender?" he added as he walked back towards the village, muttering something about Midnight Sun Madness. Kailyn shook her head and walked up to Katara, staring at the bison warily.

"Come on," Katara said, climbing back onto the bison. "Help me carry him to the village." Together, Kailyn and Katara carried the tattooed kid back to the village as the bison followed them.

After finding a place for Aang to sleep, Katara told Kailyn about her eventful day and explained everything. After taking in all of the information, Kailyn decided that it was time for bed.

* * *

The next morning, the village was gathered outside, waiting for Katara to introduce the airbender that she and Sokka discovered in an iceberg. Kailyn watched as Katara cheerfully dragged Aang out of a tent.

"Aang, this is the entire village. Entire village, Aang," Katara said happily. Aang bowed to them in a friendly manner, but some of the people stepped back.

"Uh…why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang asked, inspecting himself. Suddenly, Kanna stepped forward.

"Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years," Kanna explained. "We thought they were extinct until my granddaughter and grandson found you." Aang looked at her with a weird expression.

"Extinct?" he asked, but no one paid him attention.

"Aang, this is my grandmother," Katara said.

"Call me Gran-Gran," Kanna said.

"Oh! And this is my sister, Kailyn," Katara said.

"It's nice to meet you," Aang said politely. Kailyn smiled at the little air nomad. Sokka then proceeded to grab Aang's staff. Kailyn rolled her eyes.

"What is this? A weapon? You can't stab anything with this," Sokka said, inspecting the wooden staff.

"It's not for stabbing," Aang said as he airbended the staff back to him. "It's for airbending." Suddenly, the staff opened into a glider. Makki, a little girl around the age of four, clapped her hands together.

"Magic trick!" she said excitedly. "Do it again!" Kailyn smiled.

"Not magic, airbending," Aang explained. "It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly."

"You know," said Sokka, "last time I checked, humans can't fly."

"Check again," Aang said. He launched himself into the air with his glider. Aang soared through the air, doing loops as the villagers stared and pointed in amazement; even Kailyn found it incredible. Then, Aang lost his focus and flew right into Sokka's watchtower with a loud "Oof!" Sokka gasped.

"My watchtower!" he said, running towards it.

"That was amazing!" Katara said, helping Aang back to his feet. Aang closed his glider while a blanket of snow fell onto Sokka.

"Great," Sokka said. "You're an airbender; Katara's a waterbender; together, you can just waste time all day long." Kailyn shook her head at the remark.

"You're a waterbender?" Aang exclaimed.

"Well…sort of. Not yet. Kailyn is…she's better than me," Katara stammered. Aang looked at Kailyn thoughtfully.

"All right. No more playing," Kanna said. "Come on, Katara; you have chores." Kailyn walked with Katara and her grandmother.

"I told you!" Katara exclaimed. "He's the real thing, Gran-Gran! I finally found another bender to teach me!" Kailyn smiled bitterly. Lately, she hadn't spent as much time with Katara as she would've liked to, but that was just the way life was right then.

"Katara, try not to put all your hopes in this boy," Kanna warned.

"But he's special. I can tell. I sense he's filled with much wisdom," Katara argued. She looked over her shoulder to find Aang with his tongue stuck to his staff. Kailyn cocked an eyebrow.

"You were saying?" she asked.


	2. Book I: Episode II

"_To sacrifice oneself so that others may live is one of the noblest things a person can do."  
_-Anonymous

* * *

**Book I: Water  
Episode II: The Avatar Returns**

Later in the day, after Katara had left to find Aang, Kailyn was washing some clothes. She dried the clothes by waterbending the water out of the fabric. Makki watched in amazement. Suddenly, Kailyn felt a small poke on the leg, and she turned to see the little girl staring up at her. She smiled down at Makki.

"How do you do that?" Makki questioned. Kailyn smiled.

"What? Waterbend?" Makki nodded. "I was born with this gift," Kailyn explained.

"Was your mommy a waterbender, too?" Makki asked. Kailyn closed her eyes, remembering her mother.

"No, Makki, she wasn't," Kailyn said, turning back to the clothes. Then, she felt another poke on her leg, and she turned to see that Makki was still there.

"Why don't you have a mommy?" Makki asked curiously. Kailyn sighed.

"She went away," Kailyn said, her voice almost catching.

"Like on a vacation?" Makki asked. Kailyn looked down into Makki's big blue eyes that were so full of innocence. Kailyn just prayed that the world didn't take that away from her.

"Yeah, Makki," Kailyn said. "Like on a vacation." Kailyn turned away so the little girl wouldn't see her tear up.

Suddenly, there was a noise, and the sky seemed to grow brighter. Kailyn looked up, startled as something like a flare exploded in the sky, and it looked like it came from the direction of the old Fire Navy ship. Then, a sudden thought occurred to her: _Katara and Aang weren't back yet._

"Oh! Pretty!" Makki said as she pointed at the flare. Kailyn ushered Makki back to her mother quickly without taking her eyes from the spot where the flare exploded where smoke now filled the sky.

Ten minutes later, Kailyn spotted Katara and Aang walking back to the village in the distance.

"Yay! Aang's back!" yelled one of the children. Kailyn watched as he children gathered around Aang when he and Katara got closer. Then, Sokka stepped forward angrily, pointing at Aang.

"I knew it!" he said. "You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?" he accused.

"Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident," Katara defended.

"Yeah," Aang said, "we were on the ship, and there was this booby trap, and well...we 'boobied' right into it." Kanna shook her head, and Kailyn pursed her lips.

"Katara, you know better than to go on that ship," Kailyn scolded. "You could've put the whole village in danger!" Aang stepped forward.

"Don't blame Katara! I brought her there. It's my fault," he said, looking downcast.

"Aha!" Sokka said. "The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy!" he commanded the children, who obeyed reluctantly. "The foreigner is banned from our village.

"You're making a mistake!" Katara said angrily.

"No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you and Kailyn from threats like him!" Sokka said, pointing at Aang.

"Aang is not our enemy! Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun," Katara said. Kailyn sighed; Katara was right about that.

"Fun?" Sokka cried. "We can't fight firebenders with fun!" Aang then smiled earnestly.

"You should try it sometime," he said.

"Get out of our village. Now!" Sokka demanded.

"Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this!" Katara pleaded.

"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender leaves," Kanna said. Kailyn walked forward and placed a hand on her sister's shoulders.

"It's a precaution, Katara," Kailyn explained. "We can't afford to have the Fire Navy pay us another visit." Katara jerked away from Kailyn's grip angrily.

"Then, I'm banished, too!" she said. She turned, took Aang by the shoulder, and began to walk off. "Come on, Aang; let's go." Kailyn stepped forward a bit.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"To find a _real _waterbender! Aang is taking me to the North Pole!" Katara said. Kailyn stepped back, hurt by her words.

"I am?" Aang asked. "Great!"

"Katara!" Sokka called. "Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your family?" Katara paused, obviously thinking it through.

"Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family," Aang said as he walked towards Appa.

"So, you're leaving the South Pole?" Katara asked. "This is goodbye?"

"Thanks for penguin sledding with me," he said.

"Where will you go?" Katara asked. Aang put a hand on Appa.

"Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders. Wow! I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that," he said. He airbended himself onto Appa's head and took the reigns. "It was nice meeting everyone," he said politely.

"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy," Sokka taunted. Kailyn shot him a look.

"Come on, Appa; you can do it! Yip! Yip!" Aang said, but the bison just rumbled and got to its feet.

"Yeah, I thought so," Sokka said. Just then, Makki ran forward.

"Aang! Don't go! We'll miss you!" she cried.

"I'll miss you, too," Aang said sadly. Then, he turned away. "Come on, boy." Appa then began to walk away. Makki ran off, crying, back to the village. Kailyn went after her to comfort her.

* * *

Kailyn was inside a tent, fixing lunch for some of the children when the chaos broke out. Quickly, she ran outside to see all the villagers in a panic. She looked towards Sokka, standing at his ruined watchtower, where a Fire Navy ship was approaching.

"Sokka!" Kailyn cried.

"Sokka, get out of the way!" Katara called. As the ship reached the wall, it collapsed into a heap of ice and snow which tumbled back into the village, carrying Sokka with it. Then, the ship came to a halt. Steam rose up from where the bow had split the ice. The villagers slowly began to emerge from their tents. Kailyn ran to forward and pulled Sokka to his feet. They both stared up in both amazement and fear.

With a wrenching noise, the bowsprit of the ship opened and folded out and down, turning into a huge gangplank. Sokka and Kailyn both fell backwards to avoid being crushed by it. Kailyn looked up to see a boy, around her age, clad in Fire Nation clothes. He was accompanied by a host of Fire Nation soldiers. They started to walk down the gangplank.

Sokka stood and charged at the boy with a war cry. Kailyn tried to grab him, but he slipped out of her grasp. Sokka ran up the gangplank at the boy, but the boy casually and expertly kicked Sokka's weapon out of his hand. Then, the boy kicked Sokka in the face, sending Sokka sprawling on the ice. Kailyn ran to her brother.

"Where are you hiding him?" the boy demanded. Kailyn pulled Sokka from the snow and turned to see the boy grab Gran-Gran. Kailyn stepped forward a bit. "He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?" No one responded. Then, he shoved Gran-Gran roughly back to Katara.

"Hey!" Kailyn cried, but the boy launched a gout of flame over the villagers' heads with a cry of frustration.

"I know you're hiding him!" the boy said. Kailyn stepped forward angrily.

"No one knows what you're talking about," she said. "Why are you even here? We aren't a threat to the Fire Nation." Sokka then ran past Kailyn to attack the boy again. The boy dodged Sokka's attack and flipped him over his head. Then, the boy proceeded to fire a blast of flame at Sokka, who rolled out of the way, throwing his boomerang at the boy. Caught by surprise, the boy barely avoided the boomerang. Then, Nunaq, a little boy from the tribe, threw Sokka a spear.

"Show no fear!" Nunaq said as Sokka caught the spear. Sokka charged at the boy once more, but the boy caught the spear and broke its end off with his wrist guards. The boy grabbed the spear and hit Sokka in the head with it before breaking it in half. The boy stood over Sokka sternly, but before the boy could do anything, Sokka's boomerang reappeared in the sky and slammed into the back of the boy's helmet. Furious, the boy's hands began to spit fire.

Scared for her brother, Kailyn bended some snow into water and blasted the boy with water, knocking him down. The boy stood and grabbed her wrist roughly.

"Not a threat?" the boy said menacingly. "Waterbenders from this tribe aren't supposed to exist."

"Guess the Fire Nation missed one," Kailyn said, not breaking eye contact with the boy, noticing his scar which she'd somehow managed to miss up until that point.

"Where's the Avatar?" he asked threateningly. Kailyn just spit on him. He growled in anger. The hand that was grasping Kailyn's wrist started to heat. Kailyn felt her skin being burned, but she didn't break eye contact, and she held her chin high, even though she felt like crying out in pain.

Suddenly, Aang swooped under Kailyn and the boy's feet on a penguin, causing both of them to lose balance, knocking them down. As soon as Kailyn hit the snow, she buried her burning wrist in it. The children cheered as Aang reached the villagers.

"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Hey, Kailyn," Aang said.

"Hi…Aang," Sokka said dryly. "Thanks for coming." Kailyn watched as the boy rose to his feet, taking a firebending stance. The soldiers and the boy surrounded Aang, but he blew them away with a gust of air, knocking them all to the ground, save the boy.

"Looking for me?" Aang asked.

"You're the airbender?" the boy asked incredulously. "You're the Avatar?" Kailyn gasped.

"Aang?" Katara asked.

"No way," Sokka said. Aang and the boy began to circle each other, preparing for battle.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" the boy said.

"Well, you're just a teenager," Aang pointed out. The boy fired blast after blast at Aang, which he avoided. The villagers screamed as the fire reached them. "If I go with you," Aang said, "will you promise to leave everyone alone?" The boy straightened up and nodded stiffly. A soldier took Aang's staff and led him to the ship.

"No, Aang! Don't so this!" Katara said.

"Don't worry, Katara; it'll be okay. Take care of Appa for me until I get back," Aang said. Kailyn watched. There went Aang, the _only _hope for ending the war, the only chance she had of seeing her father come home, in the hands of the enemy. Anger welled inside her.

"Head a course to the Fire Nation. I'm going home," the boy said. With her unharmed wrist, Kailyn created a water whip and hit the boy on the back. Katara gasped, trying to pull Kailyn back. The boy turned around, his anger evident in his amber eyes. "Oh, yes. The waterbender," he said as a soldier pushed Katara away and grasped Kailyn by her long black hair, knocking her to her knees in front of the boy. "I can't have a liability like that on my hands, now can I?" the boy said. "Lock her away with the Avatar," the boy commanded. A soldier drug Kailyn to her feet as she struggled to free herself.

"Hey!" Aang yelled. "You promised to leave everyone alone if I went with you!"

"Yes, but that was before your friend attacked me," the boy said. Kailyn watched as Aang struggled with the guards.

"It's okay, Aang," Kailyn said. "I'm not afraid of him." The boy looked at Kailyn menacingly.

"You should be," he said. Once aboard the ship, Aang and Kailyn had their hands tied behind their backs. They were now facing the boy, who was inspecting Aang's staff.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks," the boy said to Aang. "Take the Avatar and the waterbender to the prison hold, and take this to my quarters," he said, shoving the staff to an older man. Kailyn made a disparaging noise. The boy turned to her angrily. "Do you have something to say?"

"Oh, there are a lot of things I'd like to say, none of them being very appropriate," Kailyn spat.

"Uh…Kailyn," Aang said.

"You should be grateful that I let you live," the boy growled at her.

"Grateful? GRATEFUL?! I should be _grateful_ that you terrorize my village, burn me, and take away my freedom?! _GRATEFUL_ is the _last _thing I am to you, you self-righteous, temperamental, arrogant…" The boy grabbed Kailyn by her arm and yanked her to him.

"Maybe I should just kill you now," the boy sneered.

"Go ahead," Kailyn said.

"Prince Zuko," came the voice of the old man, "perhaps you should get some rest." Zuko grumbled as he shoved Kailyn back to a guard, and then, he walked away. Four guards escorted Aang and Kailyn down a dark hallway.

"So…" Aang said from somewhere behind Kailyn, "I guess you never fought an airbender before. I bet I can take all of you with my hands tied behind my back." Kailyn turned to look at Aang, who only winked at her.

"Silence!" demanded one of the guards. Kailyn and her guards stepped aside as one of Aang's guards unlocked a cell door. Kailyn watched as Aang drew a great breath and blew the guard into the cell door, knocking him out. Aang flew backwards into his second guard, causing them both to fly all the way down the hallway.

While her guards were distracted, Kailyn used her body to slam the guard on her left into a wall, and she jumped and kicked the guard on her right in the chest with both of her feet, sending him flying back as she fell on her back roughly. She quickly got up and ran down the hallway, dodging the fire being blasted at her. She managed to cut her bonds on the horned edge of the helmet of the soldier Aang had knocked out.

Kailyn ran up onto the deck of the ship, looking around for Aang, but he was nowhere to be seen. Kailyn turned and dodged a fire blast that flew over her shoulder. She quickly tried to summon water from the sea below. Unfortunately, her left wrist being burnt, she wasn't able to gather as much as she'd hoped for.

She blasted one of the three guards, sending him overboard. Kailyn quickly realized that with her damaged wrist, she would only be able to waterbend with her right hand. She constructed a whip and lashed it at the two other guards, keeping them at bay.

Kailyn heard a cry of desperation, and she looked up to see Aang and Zuko falling to the deck. She continued to lash the water whip, though she was somewhat distracted by Aang and Zuko as they squared off against each other.

"What is that?" Zuko suddenly said, looking up to the sky. Kailyn turned to look, dropping the whip with a slash.

"Appa!" Aang exclaimed. While Kailyn was distracted, one of the guards hit Kailyn with a fire blast and she was knocked to her back. Kailyn felt herself being pulled to her feet by the back of her neck roughly. Her hair tie broke and black hair fell into her face. She was able to get the hair out of her eyes in time to see Aang falling off of the ship.

"No!" Kailyn cried, struggling against the guard. There was a silence on the ship, save for Katara's screams in the background, and then, a miracle happened. Kailyn watched in wonder as Aang rose from the ocean on a maelstrom of water, his tattoos and eyes glowing white. Aang landed on the ship deck with a huge slash, still aglow. Then, he waterbended the water in a swirling circle around him. He released the water which expanded outwards in a shockwave that blasted Zuko and the guards, including Kailyn, overboard. Kailyn managed to grab hold of the railing of the deck, dangling now over the water.

Appa landed on the deck as Aang fell forward, the white glow completely gone. Katara and Sokka rushed to him.

"Aang! Are you okay?" Katara asked worriedly.

"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming," Aang said weakly.

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory," Sokka stated.

"I dropped my staff."

"Got it!" Sokka said. Kailyn could feel her hands slipping, and it wasn't helping that her wrist was still burning.

"Uh…guys?" Kailyn said. "A little help here?" Katara gasped and ran over to help Kailyn back onto the ship.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Kailyn said as they both ran to Appa. Kailyn was preparing to climb onto Appa when she spotted some of the guards getting back up and preparing for battle. Katara picked up a stream of water from the deck, and the guards pulled back slightly in fear. She tried to whip the guards with the water, but instead she froze the water on the deck, including the water around Sokka's feet.

"Katara!" Sokka cried, chipping away at the ice. Kailyn picked up some water, once again turning it into a whip.

"Go!" she said to the trio. "I'll hold them off." She lashed the whip at the guards.

"We're not leaving you," Katara said.

"Katara, I'll be fine! Now go! Be strong!" Katara's eyes welled with tears. She climbed onto Appa, yelling for Sokka to hurry up. Kailyn watched as more guards approached. She quickly froze the three in front of her, and she made a break for Appa, grabbing onto his tail as he was taking off.

She felt a hand clamp around her ankle, and she lost her grip on Appa. She fell back down to the deck.

"Kailyn!" Sokka yelled.

"Go!" Kailyn yelled back.

"But-"

"GO!" Kailyn screamed at the trio. They all looked back at Kailyn sadly as they flew away. Kailyn rolled over and kicked the man who had grabbed her in the face, but another guard quickly apprehended her, slamming her face against the deck. Kailyn felt her lip split open, and she could taste the warm metallic fluid as it ran into her mouth and down her chin.

The guard pulled her up to her knees, tying her hands behind her back once more. Kailyn smiled as she watched Appa fly away.

"Shoot them down!" Zuko's voice sounded. Kailyn turned to see Zuko and the old man from earlier launch a massive bolt of fire at Appa.

"No!" Kailyn cried. She watched as Aang jumped to the back of the saddle and deflected the blast, making it fly into a nearby ice cliff. It exploded on impact, and ice fell onto the front of the ship, stopping it. Kailyn sighed in relief.

"Good news for the Fire Lord," said the old man calmly. "The nation's greatest threat is just a little kid."

"That kid, Uncle, just did this," Zuko said, pointing to the snow and ice which now covered the prow. "I won't underestimate him again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" Zuko turned to see that some of the guards were trying to unthaw the guards that Kailyn had frozen. "As soon as you're done with that." Kailyn laughed openly. Zuko turned to her angrily. "You!" he said, pointing a finger at her. "You let the Avatar escape!"

"_Helped_," Kailyn corrected. "I _helped _the Avatar escape."

"Get up!" Zuko said, yanking her up roughly by the arm. "_I'll_ escort you to the prison hold, since my guards are clearly incapable!" he nearly shouted as he pushed her forward.


End file.
